Home > Consumer Reviews > Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

This is my 3rd media device, and by far the most capable. I bought it solely based on the HDMI output and MKV playback abilities, and am pleased with the performance so far. Given the price to features ratio, this is the best such device on the market, in my opinion, and one of very few devices I know that can play the robust (and relatively obscure) MKV format as well as being able to output to HDMI. My other 2 devices play AVI's and so does my PS3, so AVI playback was not important to me.


Major pluses:
1) HDMI output at 1080p
2) Unicode support is flawless (for subtitles and filename displays). for subtitles, simply name them the same as your movie file and put in the same directory. e.g. Batman.mkv; Batman_ENG.srt; Batman_ESP.srt, etc.
3) remembers where you left off in a movie so you don't have to start from beginning
4) BEAUTIFUL and easy to use interface that is similar to PS3's cross-media bar
5) solidly constructed remote control and overall superior build quality
6) wide selection of languages for the interface, not just the usual French, Spanish, and English.

Major problems:
1) inability to decode DTS audio
2) external hard drive does not power down when device is off
3) higher bitrate 1080p MKV files are unwatchable due to screen artifacting and other visual problems. i think it has a problem with 29fps @1080p.

Not so major problems, but still bothersome issues:
1) excessive spacing btwn lines of text in subtitles
2) inability to read muxed subtitles in files
3) no ability to go to a specific time code if you want to skip ahead
4) thumbnails don't work on any of my videos
5) shiny surface is nice, but fingerprints are easy to see on it

Overall, this is a great value if you're in the market for a versatile multi-format device. It even plays FLAC and OGG audio. If you're a movies guy though, the inability to decode DTS audio may be the deciding factor in your purchasing decision. Hopefully, WD can fix this via a firmware update.

If they release a Gen-2 version of this device that fixes the DTS problem and also has an Ethernet port and/or internal storage, I will gladly repurchase it at a higher price.

4.5/5 stars

UPDATE 12/26/08

WD released a firmware update a few days ago that addressed several of my complaints, including embedded subtitle playback, fast-forwarding and reversing by 10 minute increments, fixed subtitle spacing, subtitle font size select, and a long list of other improvements.

My 3 major problems mentioned above seems to remain. Hopefully, a future firmware release will address these, with the biggest priority for me being DTS decoding.

New Rating: 4.75/5. Highly recommended product.

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UPDATE #3: May 21, 2009: I continue to be highly pleased with this product, after 6 months of ownership. WD has periodic updates that greatly improve the device and fixes small issuse, or introduces new features. The latest firmware shows the subtitle's language name (English, Spanish, etc), instead of just "Subtitle 1/3".

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UPDATE #4: Oct 19, 2009: The Western Digital WD TV Live is now available at Amazon through third party sellers. I have a review up on the Live's product page. Meanwhile, WD has an upcoming firmware update on the WD TV 1, currently in beta, which resolves some minor (and seemingly rare) UI issues. URL is in the comment section of my review.

UPDATE: After many tries on encoding MKV file, I found out why some MKV file downloaded did not works. This box only play with H.264 video codec and AC3/MP3 audio codec. H.264 lossless doesn't seem to work right, but regular normal H.264 works just fine. Hope this would help others out there. Instruction on how to make MKV file on www.videohelp.com shows to use a different kind of codec and it does not work with this WD box. If use Fairuse 2.9, make sure to choose the x264 codec output to work on this WD box.
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I like to follow-up with you on several things here since I own both of these just like you, the IOMEGA screenplay (not the PRO version, they just came out with new one) and the WD TV HD.
(1) Yes, WD only relies on remote, but its remote is durable, not like the Screenplay. But both problem can be solve by having it set up with a Universal remote control (I'm sure everyone using these type of products must have own one already, we don't like tons of remotes that why we bought the All-in-one solution stuffs)
(2) I don't know what kind of "ISO" files you have, but mine plays just fine. I haven't had any freeze up during forwarding yet (at 16x). As for when they freeze, no matter whether it's remote or hard button on the box, you still have to unplug both (Screenplay/WD) to reset.
(3) Yes, there's shortcoming of what called "SKIPPING" on the WD (I too would love to have it on the next firmware update). But it cans forward/backward up to 16x so not bad. Plus, when you hit the "BACK" button or "Menu" button during the play then go back to it later, WD does ask you to continue where you left off or start from beginning. Didn't yours do that? Mine WD firmware is version 1.0.0.1.
(4) Yes you are right, playing with VOB or ISO files should be able to have chapter view or skip to the next chapter (Should be include in the next firmware update please WD). Again, here we have to use the forward/backward. Home/Back buttons also help as WD has a resume of last played location. I have a 1TB Maxtor OneTouch hooked to this and it works just fine. I was just amazed by how fast the first time it was to scan for the contents. I have around 200GB of movies in Divx, Xvid, MKV, ISO, RM, MP4... you name it, and it works beautifully (Screenplay does not play these (divx6, xvid, mkv, iso...)). I also have around 120GB of images taken by Canon digitals cameras and it displays it awesome too (maybe a little overexposed). My music collection around 180GB, mostly mp3 format, and it works fine too. Try to use the "LIST VIEW" instead of "THUMB" view should boots up the browsing speed 5x faster. I think if you name your file right, list view shouldn't be any less details as thumb view.

As nothing is perfect, I do like this WB a lot. MKV file play so clear (Bee Movie 2.1GB.mkv file) 9 out 10 of the Bluray quality, unbelievable. Also on the pricing point of view, this is the best money can buy right now. Screenplay almost the same price but much less features (file type compatible). Plus, WB has 2 USB host so you can plug in virtually anything USB for it to display on your TV, that's sweet option.
Iomega just came out with a Screenplay Pro which match up features with WD TV HD, plus networking and recordable feature. Maybe someone had that one and give us a details feedback of how its functions. As for now and for the price, WD TV HD is the best of all.

I love this product. Gone are the nights where I was the only person in the house capable of plugging the laptop to the HD TV with a 12ft miniDV<->HDMI cable and launching VLC -- dangling cords everywhere, draining batteries, and an inquisitive toddler.

What sub $100, 1.5"x5" device can you get that sips electricity, is whisper quiet, boots instantaneously, auto-indexes 500GB of media files on FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ in < 2 minutes, and plays almost every file format including H.264, MKV, WMV9, FLAC, OGG, and DTS? None.

Ages ago I used to rip divx and xvid movies onto a DVD and play them on a Philips DVD player. But now with huge HD file formats and oodles of cheap available external SATA USB storage I no longer have the patience to rip countless DVDs or encode movies such that I can play it on a BluRay player.

There are other options I considered: configuring a MythTV box (no time), hacking an AppleTV with VLC, XBMC or Boxee (AppleTV chokes on 1080p), Popcorn Hour (shoddy reviews), etc. This is by far the easiest for my family and I to use.

The system uses a Sigma SMP8635LF chipset. Sigma Designs is an American company based in California that makes system-on-a-chip (single integrated circuit) semiconductors for a vast array of media systems including 50% of all BluRay players on the market. This chip is responsible for decoding all the audio video codecs the Media Player supports. The chip handles 1080p fine with limitation (mentioned below).

The unit is not perfect but I still give it 5 stars because of the price and out-of-box simplicity:

Some issues (and some fixes):
- Doesn't stream content from the net (without effort). There are other cheap devices for this -- a Roku, for example. If you run out of HDMI ports get an HDMI switch.

- Initially had a problem with MKV with DTS audio not producing sound. The issue is that the unit can only decode in 2 channels and DTS has 5+ channels (depending on the variant). To-date the Media Player can't down-mix 5-channel to stereo. Resolution for me was output the DTS over the supplied optical port to my receiver (composite red-white cables won't work) and let the receiver handle the decoding. If this option is not available one could convert DTS to AC3 (a quick Google will yield easy recipes for both Mac, Windows, Linux users).

- Frames-per-second (fps). WD is clear about what the device can handle. These are the limitations for MPEG2/4, H.264, and WMV9:
1920x1080p at 24fps
1920x1080i at 30fps
1280x720p at 60fps

If you breach that then movies will pixelate and skip frames. Solution for me is to re-encode the movie using Handbrake at the max fps supported by the unit. For example, if I had a 1080p movie at 29.97 fps I would just reencode it at 24fps. Problem disappears.

- Thumbnail images. "Thumbnail mode" is more attractive and polished looking than "list mode" which simply lists the movie title. While it's relatively easy to embed images in, say, mp4 or avi, it is not possible with mkv. As such all my mkv movies initially had a lame default thumbnail assigned to them. Luckily the latest firmware addresses this. Place a jpeg image in the same directory and with the same name as the mkv file and the Media Player will display the thumbnail. I grab DVD cover art right from our friend Amazon. Works perfectly.

For example:
Defiance - 1080p.mkv
Defiance - 1080p.jpg

Other miscellaneous things I can think of:
- Works great with my Logitech Harmony remote.
- Handles (2) WD Passport drives with power over USB just fine.
- Plays BluRay streams perfectly - just copy the .m2ts file over to your usb drive and enjoy!
- To-date, chapter support is only available with MKV files. Adding chapters to a file can be accomplished using a tool such as MKVMerge. Otherwise, aside from fast-forwarding rates at 2/4/8/16x, it is possible to skip forward (not reverse) in 10-minute increments by first selecting fast-forward (>>) then skip (>>|).
- The unit has problems indexing HFS+ with journaling enabled (I have a Mac). It will still play the media but it's easy enough to turn off journaling. With the USB drive plugged into the Mac type:
$ sudo /usr/sbin/diskutil disableJournal /Volumes/Your_Drive

This is the product I've been waiting for. If you prefer watching video files on your big screen TV rather than your small computer monitor, but don't have time to burn them all to DVDs first, this is the device for you.

Plug your USB flash drive or external hard drive directly into your WD TV Media Player and instantly watch files on your TV with the same quality as if you'd burned them to a DVD-R.

It plays .avi, .wmv., .mpeg, .mp4, .vob, .mp3, .wma, .jpeg files, and more. Play, pause, Rewind and FF, at 2x, 4x, 8x and 16x speed, using the remote just like a DVD player. Easy menu interface lets you jump from file to file quickly. Resume function lets you pick up where you left off. Aspect ratio can be changed to fit either HD or regular screens.

Great product, highly recommend.

I have to admit that I was skeptical of this device simply because it seems like no matter what device your talking about, its always missing something that makes it feel incomplete. Well I can safely say that is just not the case with WD TV. This device is an absolute home run. Dont get me wrong its not perfect and I will get to its shortcomings in a second however in the areas that really matter, this device simply doesnt disappoint.

First and foremost its important to note that this device can be updated via software updates from Western Digital and it has in fact already recieved an update which added a couple more supported codecs to the list. This is an extremely important aspect to this device as it means that it can continually be improved as time goes on and you dont have to pay for such updates. I was actually unaware of this when I purchased it so it was like an added bonus.

As for the device itself, its actually very small, around 7"x6"x2". Its just a small black box with no buttons as everything is controlled via the remote control. Some have come out and suggested that this is a bad thing however I disagree. If your remote breaks you simply must buy a new one. I have no problem with this especially given the lifespan of most remote controls. One of the things I dont like is the fact that the remots is so small. I actually wrote WD and expressed my dsappointment with the remote and they replied back that they have recieved a lot of similar complaints and that the WD TV team is looking into this issue. I told them that I would love to see a much higher quality remote sold separately as I have no problem paying a bit more for a nice remote.

Where this device really shines is in the supported codecs. I have wanted to buy an Apple TV since the day it was announced a few years back however I never ended up buying one as it just didnt support enough codecs and I am not wasting 100's of hours re-encoding all of my content into a different format. Well thankfully someone has finaly gotten it right in this dept as the WD TV supports almost every major codec being used today including H.264 and Matroska. I was a bit disappointed to find out that it didnt support Divx. I wrote WD an email about this as well and the customer service rep who wrote me back told me to just rename the Divx files to .avi and guess what, it works like a charm. So while this device does not officially support Divx, it will still play all of your Divx content. With Divx taken care of this device now supports 100% of the codecs I look for in a device. Hats off to the WD TV team for really nailing this aspect of the device because lets face it this is the most important aspect to any media player and this is where so many previous devices have gotten it wrong. Well WD TV is certainly not one of them. This thing a grand slam in this dept.

As for the on screen navigation, while it could use a little bit of improvment, it still gets the job done and with the update feature of this device I am confident that this is one aspect of the device that will be getting many updates in the future. Even my mother, who gets VERY confused with everything technology wise, has been easily able to control this device and this really says more about this device than you think. The fact that she learned how to fluently use this device in a matter of hours is quiite frankly unbelievable and its really one of the biggest compliments I can give this device.

The bottom line is WD TV would have been worth 200.00. At 99.99 it is without a single doubt one of the best deals going today. Sure you need an external HD so that adds another 100 bucks however a lot of people might already own a compatible HD. I actually already owned 3 HD's that were compatible with this device so I didnt have to spend a penny over 99.99. I am a big Apple fan so part of me is bummed that I was never able to buy an Apple TV. They were more interested in forcing people to use the iTunes store than they were in creating an all around amazing media player. Western Digital doesnt have a media store so they were focused on one thing and one thing only and that was creating a media player that would play ALL of the popular codecs being used today and in that regard they have succeeded with flying colors. The WD TV isnt perfect but its as close to perfect as I have ever seen with one of these devices and with the update feature, its just going to get closer and closer to perfect as time goes on. At 99.99 it isnt even a question of whether or not to buy it, its a question of whether or not to buy more than one, I sure did.